Nine and a Half Acres and a New Science Lab: The Catholic College of Mandeville Expands Beyond Teacher Training

• The Catholic College of Mandeville moved in 2013 to a nine-and-a-half-acre campus at Williamsfield
• It opened a new science laboratory and launched agriculture and sports programmes
• The Roman Catholic Diocese gave grants of $150,000 each to 10 agriculture students
• The college is seeking donations for an audio-visual room, a multi-purpose room and a cafeteria

The Catholic College of Mandeville, funded by the Roman Catholic Diocese, is expanding its courses and its campus, the Jamaica Observer reported.

The college started 22 years earlier with 18 students. “We started very small, the whole point being to provide qualification for teachers who were not trained,” said Sister Una O’Connor, its recently retired president, an Irish-born Passionist Sister with a PhD in chemistry. “Now we have grown to 500 or so (students) and we have accredited programmes.” In 2013 the college moved from Caledonia Road in Mandeville to nine-and-a-half acres at Williamsfield, which remains a work in progress.

It has launched an Associate of Science in Agriculture, planned to lead to a bachelor’s degree, and diplomas in coaching and sports massage therapy with GC Foster College. A new science laboratory was opened with a ribbon-cutting. Because of economic hardship, the diocese gave grants of $150,000 each to 10 agriculture students for basic equipment. Registrar Paul Thompson said the college would seek “healthy donations” for an audio-visual room, a multi-purpose room and a cafeteria, and there is space on the property for a sports facility.

Member of Parliament Peter Bunting suggested partnering with the under-used Kirkvine sports complex nearby. He and Mayor Brenda Ramsay said the expansion fitted a vision of Manchester as a leader in education after bauxite and alumina. “It’s like we are at another beginning,” O’Connor said.

A nine-and-a-half-acre campus is a significant church investment in Manchester, and there is room to build more. Colleges bring students and staff who need housing, transport and services, which supports property owners around Williamsfield and Mandeville. The plan to share the Kirkvine complex rather than build a new sports facility is also sensible, since it uses an existing asset. For the diocese, the college’s growth depends on fundraising for each new building.

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